During a recent interview (for BPI Manager's position) that I attended, I was asked if I knew the formulas for different stat calculations. I replied that I did not. You can guess the outcome of the interview.

 

Honestly, I don't think we need to know/remember these formulas; we have calculators/software for that. As excellence/transformation agents, we should be good with the concepts and methodologies. At lease, that is what I believe. I believe knowing formulas is desirable but not mandatory. I would like to know the thoughts/opinions of the other members on this. Please share.

Dear Papi Reddy

 

I understand the conundrum around this as I have been on both sides of the interview table. For me, remembering the formulae for statistical tests (or advanced stats) was and is never a priority. More important is to know the usage, application, limitations of the test and then to be able to make business decisions basis the outcome of the statistical results. Having said that, there are some basic formulae (say for descriptive stats - foundation of statistics) which one is expected to know.

 

 

Thank you for responding, Mayank. 

It depends on what position you are aiming for. If you are aiming for a LSS trainer role, it would be important to have a reasonable grasp of the underlying statistical principles, if not the the actual formula. For other roles, where you may have to lead a LSS project, in whatever else may be your area of competency, you can either rely on the statistical software and take the help of an LSS BB or MBB, where you need help. One of the main reasons why these applied subjects did not (and maybe still do not) get enough of buy-in was that many used to get put-off on the stat part. In the earlier days one had to use tables and calculators to do the workings, but now, thanks to the advanced software packages available, we are able to perform that part with ease. So, if we keep harping too much on the theoretical part, we may once again kindle the discouragement. We need to be careful and practical in this approach.

Thanks for your response, Venogopal. I appreciate it.